AB: What spurred you to become an activist?

ML: Well, the advocacy work started while I was in college. I came back Stateside from the military about a year and half after I was out of the service and I ended up coming back and trying to figure out – you know, you work on getting acclimated to civil life after you've been in the military and it is a totally different structure. I was trying to find myself and during that time, in '92, I ended up finding out that I was HIV positive. That really I believe was the focal turning point in my life because I started seeing what was going on around me with relation to HIV and AIDS within the community, a lot of friends were dying, I lost my best friend in 1994. It shook me. I saw the way that people were being treated – we had paramedics who came to my friend's home to take him to the hospital, and they wouldn't even touch him. That just floored me! I was like, "How can people treat each other this way?" That really got me started into a small activist role, because I started volunteering for local HIV and AIDS organizations.

AB: I see.

ML: I then went to work for Veterans Affairs. I ended up having an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed against the VA for discrimination in violation of the The Americans with Disabilities Act.. They fired me because I was HIV positive. I saw that there was a need at the local clinic for representation for the employees, so I worked to get the Federal Employees Union up to this clinic and that really was my first real proactive measure in relation to activism. And that just spurred me on, because when I went to college, I became a little more vocal about what it was like to have HIV, the different medications and treatments. Subsequent to that, the Boy Scout issue reared its head in 2000 with the Supreme Court decision. At the time I was volunteering for my nephew's troop and they went to my sister and told her they didn't want me to volunteer anymore. I had never mentioned my sexual orientation. It was never an issue. But I then started hearing from people in the area whose children had been asked to leave simply because they acted effeminately or because of the perception of being gay or because they came out as a teenager. And that made me upset and I said, "This has got to stop." That's what made me really focus on the issue, I didn't like seeing a youth organization discriminating against the youth that they were supposed to be serving.

AB: I read an article a few weeks ago about the impact that Mark Foley has had in Florida. People are still shaky on the Republicans down there, and with Bob Allen's scandal, as well, and these emotions may give the Democrats a big push. Do you agree with that – the psychological impact the Foley scandal?

ML: You know, my understanding from living in the state my whole life, with the exception of being in the service, is that people want elected officials to be open and honest. That is the primary issue that people had and have had with politicians and elected officials. I don't think the theme of whether they're gay or not is the issue. It's whether they're open and honest. If they're not open and honest about their personal lives, chances are they're not going to be open and honest when they're legislating. I think that's what resonates more with the community – both Democrats and Republicans alike want to know that there is transparency there and honesty and integrity.

AB: Finally, Charlie Crist. What do you make of all these gay rumors? Are they rooted in fact?

ML: You know, I think people need to live their lives in the best way that they know. I think that someone's sexuality is their own business, but, again – it's up to the individual to decide – I'm sorry, it's up to the individual to be open and honest about their sexual orientation, but it is a private issue. But, again, the public just wants people to be open and honest with them.

SG: Let me – that is not Mark implying that Charlie Crist is gay.

ML: No, I'm not implying anything, I'm just saying that the rumors are always flying out there if you're a single adult male and you're over, say, 35 and you're not married. I have a lot of clients as an accountant that are single individuals and I don't speculate as to whether they're gay or not. Like I said, coming out is a very personal and private decision and whether you're straight or gay – I think that if Charlie Crist has something to say, then he will say it in his own time whether or not he is or isn't.

SG: And that is not Mark implying that Charlie Crist is gay.

AB: I will be sure to include that in the transcript.